Creating a Product Listing for a Share

Once you have completed your share setup, your next step is to create a Product Listing for that Share so it will be visible in your online catalog. (Creating a product listing for an add-on product will follow a slightly different process than for subscriptions; that process is described in a separate article.)

Here is an example of a subscription product listing. Product listings are created from information you add to the “Add Product” page.

To create a new product, navigate to: Shares & Products / Product Listings / Add a Product. 

The first step in creating a Product Listing is indicating whether you are creating a product listing for a CSA subscription, a companion (add-on) product, or a standalone product. The details of the latter categories will be addressed later; for now, just click on the button next to “CSA subscription” and uncheck the box next to “companion product.” The next page will look like this, and again you will just fill in the fields:

1. Product Name: The Product Name field will be pre-filled from the Share name you entered on the Add a Share page. You may edit it here if you wish, and this name will be used in your product catalog. 
2. Taxable: If this product is taxable in your state, check the “yes” box and the sales tax will be computed for you and the member automatically by CSAware. A few states have different tax rates for processed vs. unprocessed foods. Click on the Unprocessed Food Rate if it applies to this product. 
3. Organic: By choosing “yes”, you will add the USDA Organic logo to the screen when this product is displayed. If you use the organic logo, you are responsible for maintaining all required documentation to support that claim. 
4. Type: Because this is a CSA share, the “type” in the example above showing it as a “CSA subscription” is already completed. 

5. Schedule: Check the box for “Weekly” and, if you offer bi-weekly deliveries for “Bi-Weekly”. If you have a meat CSA delivering only monthly, there are other schedule options available in the Settings area. Ask your CSAware account manager to help you set this up. 
6. Billing: If you are offering recurring billing, select your billing frequency options here.Store Credit Share: Select this option if you are setting up a store credit share type. Contact your account manager directly to see if this option would apply to your setup.
7. CSA Share: Click on the drop down list to select the share for which you are creating a product listing. 
8. Drops: You can edit your product listing and specify your drop locations once they are set up (to be explained in a subsequent section of this manual). To have a product available for all drop locations you may leave this field blank. 
9. Product Code: An “internal use” product code, if needed.
10. The Short and Long Descriptions: The one or two sentence description you place in the “Short Description” box will appear above the SKU area in the product listing in your catalog. It should briefly define the specific characteristics of this product. The “number of characters remaining” below the description field provides you feedback on how many of the allowed 200 characters remain for your description. The “long description” field allows you to provide your members with very detailed information about the features and benefits of this particular product. This field can be temporarily entered initially, and edited more completely at a later time. 

When writing your short and long descriptions, we recommend that you be as descriptive and specific as possible. We also suggest that you write in complete sentences and watch your spelling, grammar, capitalization, use of spaces, etc. The image at the end of this section shows where each description will appear on the product listing in your catalog, including SKUs, which are described in the following section. 

Please be sure to click the Save button several times while working on this and all pages in your set-up. If you navigate away from the page, your work may be lost.

11. Keywords: To help members find this product in your catalog, you can enter additional search keywords that are not already found in the product name or the product description. This is an optional field. 
12. At this point in the product entry process, please save your draft of the product listing by clicking on the “Save Draft” button at the bottom of the product screen. If you are ready to add a photo, please refer to "Tips on Taking Product Photos" and browse to upload it from where it is stored in your computer. 
13. Companion Items: Once all of your product listings are set up, you may go back, edit a product listing, and use this field to link associated products that can be suggested to your customers.